Music and loud earbuds....

A friend...well, a number of friends actually, have commented that I often listen to music on my earbuds at an extremely high volume. I never really noticed. Ever since I got my first personal stereo several years ago, I have always listened to music on a headset at a high volume. Went through several generations of personal stereos over the years. Remember radio headphones? Big, self contained headphones with it's own batteries, and can pick up AM/FM stations without being plugged to anything. Then the ubiquitous and ground breaking Walkman. Went through three, I believe, with the last one I bought around ten years ago still neatly stored at home. Does anyone still use cassette tapes anymore? Some probably still do, but I gave them up long ago in favor of...CDs. CDs, as we all know, are a far cry in terms of sound quality from the hissy sound of tapes and scratchy sound of vinyl. My Discman bought in 1991, for all it's weight and size compared to present models, became one of my favorite possessions. Alas, it too is neatly stored in a cabinet somewhere at home, enjoying retirement after more than 10 years of faithful and trouble free service. Nowadays, I use an MP3 player, one of those small affairs you can slip in your pocket. I would like an Apple iPod, but unfortunately my finances won't allow for it at present...

Going back, so why do I listen to headphones at high volumes? Hmmm....I guess it has something to do with the fact that I consider music as something not just to be heard or listened to. For me, music should be experienced. Every tone, inflection or nuance of the vocals, every note, chord, every drum beat, should be fully absorbed for maximum effect. I was always fascinated by music, even though I had never been a virtuoso at singing or any musical instrument. There's something truly intriguing about a thing so abstract that it defies definition, so ethereal that it literally floats in the air, so full of passion and emotion that it is fully capable of conveying the entire range of human experience in what may seem to be nothing more than a mere collection of sounds. Not only that, music has the uncanny ability to stir up memories...perhaps a sight...a feeling, a smell...a taste. There are songs which remind me of virtually all of my different past experiences, from my earliest days as a child, to the present.

Curious over the psychological effects of music, I tried looking it up on the internet. I found a site which attempts to provide an explanation why listening to music makes most us feel "good." It's supposedly because:


1. Music acts as a distraction from weighty preoccupations of mind and mood;
2. It may have some mechanism which stimulates the excretion or production of 'happy' neurochemicals. Particularly those involved with emotion rather than reason.

Well, whatever the reason is, all I know is, it works for me. Music has and will always be a part of my life.


"Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast, To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak."


From "The Mourning Bride" Act i. Sc. 1. - William Congreve

Comments

Cristina G. said…
yeah, and when your deaf, the music will all be in your head...
tone down the volume! Ü
January 28, 2005 4:39 PM
Cristina G. said…
... when you're deaf -- un kulang ng letra. Ü
January 29, 2005 11:24 AM
Ronald Allan said…
Obsessive compulsive. :-)
January 29, 2005 6:28 PM
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